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Choosing Exterior Colors

From exuberant Victorians to quieter traditionals, these houses illustrate some of the fine points that go into selecting the best exterior colors for your home.

Start with stone

Exterior paint schemes should be based on colors that are already established. For this Gothic-style entry, those were the grays of the stone and roof. Too much gray can seem dismal, so the perfect counterpoint was a warm, rich color: burgundy red. To allow it to accent the doors and windows, other surfaces were painted off-white and a shade of gray slightly lighter than the stone.